I walked to Wandle Park tram stop so as to take a tram to Elmers End and arriving at 1233 there was a tram in 5 minutes. This conveyed me to Elmers End where I arrived at 1302 with 8 minutes to wait for the 1310 train towards Charing Cross. The train arrived at Catford Bridge at 1319 and from the station I walked around to Thomas Lane bus stop where I arrived at 1325.
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| All tree buses that start from here were waiting upon my arrival |
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| The journey is stated to take 63 minutes and it took exactly that. |
The next No 320 bus, Go Ahead London's EH84 arrived at 1328 and we were then taken left towards Catford High Street before making a circuit of the one way system at Rushey Green in order to head south down the A21 towards Bromley.
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| London General's EH84 arriving |
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| Catford High Street |
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| 2023 buses newly delivered at Catford Garage. |
At 1337 we were passing Catford garage which is a Stagecoach owned facility even though some London General routes start and terminate there for historical reasons. Continuing onward south we passed Catford garage, once a major centre for Metropolitan traffic police but now up for sale. Once past Downham Lane the bus was only accompanied by route No 208 as it climbed Bromley Hill and entered the London Borough of Bromley at 1345. We reached the Market Square at 1351 and stopped at the Bromley Town hall stop at 1354 to exchange drivers. This exchange only took two minutes and we were turning right down Kentish Way past the stop called Bromley Civic Centre before turning right into Elmfield road so as to head down the southern part of Bromley High Street.
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| Bromley Market Square stop |
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Building en-scribed established over a hundred
years on the front facing high street it says 1884 |
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| Southern end of Bromley High Street |
On the left at the junction was a building with Bromley Civic Centre en-scribed upon it which is rather perplexing. given the bus stop of that name is nowhere near it. We left the Bromley South station bus stop at 1401 and returned to the A21 following this road as far as Oakley Road as the area passed through became rural on one side but with new build housing on the left. We turned up Oakley Road for the only time as the sole bus route on the road as far as the Keston Mark. Here we joined the R2 route and once past Keston Ponds rejoined with the No 146 and No 246. The ponds are the spring which feed the river Ravensbourne which I had been following since leaving Catford Bridge.
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| Rural side of A21 at Bromley Common |
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| Looking along runway 11 at Biggin Hill |
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| Cessna business jet of Atlas air service |
The bus was now on the A233 and we followed this past Keston Church at 1416 and then across Leaves Green to reach Biggin Hill airfield. Here the bus driver announced he would have to wait as we running ahead of time. We spent three minutes here and left at 1325. Once past St Marks church and the library the bus turned right and went down Stock Hill to the bottom of the valley. Up until this point it was all very familiar territory to me but I had no idea where the bus terminated. It turned left onto Norheads Lane and then very soon left into Kings Road and terminated at the COOP at 1431. The bus stand here is quite limited so I could understand why he couldn't afford to arrive early.
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| Journey's End |
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| Confirmation I made it |
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| Terminal and start point |
I then walked left and left again into Sunningdale Avenue and then followed this road as it went across the roundabout at the bottom of Stock Hill. As the road climbed up the valley side it became unmade after a while and only became re-metalled just before we reached the top at the junction with the A233. I crossed this and went into the Look-Out cafe to a Moccha and chees and bacon Panino. Rather than catch the No 464 home, I took a No 246 to Coney Hall and then a No 119 to Sandilands so as to return to Wandle Park on a tram, arriving home at 1650
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